Abe Partridge and Jack Barksdale are not the most obvious pairing, yet together they create a mesmerizing musical brew. As an outsider folk artist from Alabama, Partridge crafts provocatively unique music and paintings, rough-edged songs that can blur the absurd and beautiful in wild howling tales and tender questioning ballads. Barksdale, on the other hand, is a North Texas teenager that has been stunning audiences since he was a kid with the depth of his songwriting, soft angelic voice, and sharp guitar picking. Together, Partridge and Barksdale blend contrasts into a haunting but gorgeous new album they’re releasing only at shows. – Doug Freeman